Chess Olympiad 2026 Round 1: India's Teams Make Winning Starts

India's open and women's teams won their round 1 matches at the 46th Chess Olympiad in Samarkand, while hosts Uzbekistan beat Jamaica 4-0.

The 46th FIDE Chess Olympiad is under way in Samarkand, Uzbekistan, and both Indian teams have started with wins. The open team beat Thailand 3-1 and the women's team beat the Dominican Republic 4-0.

India's open team contains some of the best players in the world. In round 1 Gukesh D, Nihal Sarin and Vidit Santosh Gujrathi all won their games. The surprise of the match came on the top board, where Thai International Master Prin Laohawirapap beat Arjun Erigaisi in 54 moves. India still won the match comfortably, but it was a reminder that every opponent at an Olympiad deserves respect.

India's women's team made a perfect start. Koneru Humpy, Vaishali Rameshbabu, Vantika Agrawal and Savitha Shri B each won their games for a 4-0 sweep.

The host nation also began strongly. Uzbekistan's open team, led by Nodirbek Abdusattorov, beat Jamaica 4-0, and the Uzbek women's team beat Trinidad and Tobago by the same score. China, Germany, France, Armenia and Azerbaijan were among the other open teams that won 4-0. The United States beat Iraq 3.5-0.5 with Wesley So, Hans Niemann and Awonder Liang all winning.

The first round of an Olympiad often pairs very strong teams against much lower-rated teams. That is the Swiss system at work. As the rounds go on, teams with similar scores meet each other and the matches get much tougher.

Arjun's loss holds a lesson for every student. Upsets happen in chess, especially when a stronger player expects an easy game. The best approach is to treat every opponent seriously and play the position on the board, not the rating next to the name. And when you do lose a game you expected to win, the right reaction is to reset for the next round, as Arjun will surely do.

Round 2 follows, with India's open team facing Indonesia.